This week we have been in Požega, Croatia. We sanded and painted windows, cleaned floors, swept mountains of dirt and dust, mortared walls and floors, explored the town for spiritual atmosphere and tried to talk to as many people as possible.
We worked with a man named Marion and his wife Bozena. He is the pastor of one of the two churches here in this town of 30,000 people. They have a great vision for this town, and along with Joe and Alice (the American missionaries that live in Požega) they look forward to bringing up new leadership for the church from the youth of the town. They know that revival will come for the Croatian church from the youth, and they want to focus a lot of their energy pouring into the young people of the town.
The last night in the church before we departed to head back to Osijek and the rest of our team we had a big dinner with everyone- Marion, Bozena, Joe, Alice, Olga (our translator- but so much more) and our whole team. It was such a glorious time of fellowship, and Marion asked us very specific questions about how we came to our faith. She asked a really interesting question- Who is easier for you to love: people addicted to drugs and alcohol and struggling in a lifestyle of sin? Or Christians? Interesting question. Think about it maybe… do you have an answer?
He also shared his testimony and I know that at least I was so humbled to sit at a table with him. We were able to glean from his wisdom and listen to his life experiences. God has done big things in his life, even when he was not expecting it. He shared with us how all his life he had a desire to sing but had not been encouraged as a child. In fact he was discouraged and told that he was worthless and would amount to nothing in life. But late in life he has found satisfaction because his Heavenly Father accepts his singing as praise. It was really cool for us to hear his very moving testimony, especially after having worked along side him all week.
On the last day, Matt and Marion had been in the basement working all morning and a lot of the afternoon. Marion left to run an errand, and Matt, remembering I like to build things, asked if I would like to help him mortar the floor of the basement (good thing Jennifer and I had just run out of stain for the window because it gave me a good excuse to leave). This was my favorite part of the whole week. Not only did I get to build something, but I learned a new skill from Matt, heard about his grandfather who was a mason, and shared the accomplishment of the floor’s completion with him.
If you ever get to Požega you need to make sure that you take time to stop and get to know these awesome people.
Olga, the woman in the church who speaks both English and Croatian that translated for us all week (after working full shifts in her medical practice) is one of the sweetest women I have ever met, and she plays the accordion. She was so compassionate and patient with us trying to learn Croatian (guess I should have studied more diligently) and she translated so diligently between Marion and the 7 of us. It was glorious to watch. She is actually a refugee from Bosnia, and a medical doctor, and blessed woman who hears the Lord and looks for ways to serve the Kingdom’s coming.
Bozena and Marion are two of the most hospitable people I have met, they took us to an accordion concert, made us lunch every day and made sure to know each one of our personal testimonies even through the language barrier. They were wonderful about making sure that we knew what we were supposed to be doing at the church, I was amazed at how well they could communicate what they needed without words.
Joe and Alice are missionaries here in Croatia. They served 16 years in western Africa, then a 4 year term in the states and are now beginning their first term in Croatia. It was cool to get to pick their brains about Africa (that is yet to come for us) and just to hear about their lives on the mission field, how it affected their two now grown children, how they deal with going back into the states for different periods of time.
It was a great week! Požega was awesome. What is next?
